Ghost of the Blue Roses
by MoonFox23
Summary: When a young girl meets a dellusioned man set on seducing her Catherine will fall into a world of fantastic beauty only to have it end when the truth is revealed. OnePatheticShot


((; This is my first submitted story. Now, actually, this story was meant for a school assignment on "What is Love?". I decided to do a short story. This took a lot of energy out of me. Two nights up to 2 Am in the morning of work! I'm not too happy with it, but the people I showed it to so far seem to enjoy it. So, for no reason at all, I decided to put it up here on fanfiction. Maybe more people will like it? Anyway, thank you for reading this! Please try to review if you think this story is worth even that. XD; ))_****_

Fantasma del Blu Rosa_**  
**_**Ghost of the Blue Roses******

"Oh, goodness," the elderly woman chirped, her wrinkled hands bringing a necklace to her neck. She looked down briefly, then turned with a smile to the young girl behind her. Those wrinkled hands brought the silver chain up against the girl's neck and cooed as the light of the store caught on the chain and made it gleam brilliantly against her grand daughter's pearly skin. "This looks beautiful on you, Catherine. I think I'll buy this for you for your birthday." 

"You don't have to, Grandma." The young girl muttered to herself. It was no use trying to talk her way out of it. Her grandma was already paying for the little locket at the counter. She had to admit, though. It was a beautiful thing, that locket. A hand carved heart shape with tiny curls like vines along the edges that reminded Catherine of Valentine Cards. And carved at the center of the silver heart was a design of a rose with tiny blue gems riding along the lines. It brought forth the unmistakable image of a blue rose.

Once the duo finally left the small jewelry store Catherine found herself a little overwhelmed by her grandmother's sudden undying regrets about not attending her party this year. "Can you believe my luck? Right on your sixteenth birthday!" The elder cried as they drove home together. Catherine looked out the window as she complained about the circumstances of her friend's death. "Oh, poor, poor Gretta. She was such a sweet friend of mine. I told her all those fatty foods weren't good for her. I'm so sorry, Catherine, Dear." The old woman sighed.

The dark haired girl smiled to herself. "It's alright, Grandma! Really, you're not missing anything." Briefly, Catherine looked from the window to her grandmother and gave her a reassuring smile. "You travel all the way from Florida every year for my birthday. It's totally alright!"  
"Oh, but-"  
"Really, it's fine." And her eyes were glued to the window again.

It was a long trip around the city but finally the beat up Jeep pulled into the family drive-way. The teen was already unbuckling her seat belt by the time the big yellow house came into view. "Bye, Grandma! I love you! Thank you so much for the necklace!" She kissed the other's cheek, catching the taste of too much foundation, and jumped out of the car. With plenty of "I love you"s thrown back and forth between them the Jeep was soon out of sight. 

That night Catherine was alone.

Her house was empty of parents for (as the note on the fridge explained) they were going to be working late tonight. They at least left her a few boxes of left over Chinese from yesterday's dinner to eat. That was all she asked for. Some food, peace and quiet was all the girl wanted out of such an exhausting day shopping with grandma. Where most old people would get easily worn out, her grandmother always had energy to jump from one store to the next. It was like the woman lived off caffeine. 

Catherine sat on her bed, dawned in a light sleeping dress, with a velvet box in her hands. She had finished dinner and had taken a hot shower moments ago. She was planning to go to bed just now, and honestly, she had no idea why she picked up the box from her dresser. Still, she opened the little box and smiled down at the necklace bought for her. "Does this really look so nice on me?" She wondered. Her petite hands lifted the chains by their ends until they were at eye level. Such a thing seemed too elegant for a city girl like herself. Leaning a touch closer she could almost smell the rose coming alive. Ever so gently, she decided, just for one night, she would wear the precious thing to bed with her. But hours after she fell asleep something happened. A large crash was heard from the living room.

Catherine sat up in bed. Sweat grew on her forehead and her dark eyes darted around the room; searching. What was that sound? Had someone broken in?! At first she was hesitant to leave the safety of her warm bed. But with a courageous jolt she threw her blanket off of her and scrambled off the mattress only to discover she had stepped on something. Holding in a scream, she dashed across the room and turned on the lights. Her heart almost stopped. Had this burglar come into her room and left behind a bouquet of roses at the foot of her bed? Blue roses? "How... on Earth?" She mumbled. Cautiously she came closer to the trampled bouquet. At least... it should have been trampled. "It's like I never touched them." She thought, picking them up.

God knows what went through her head, but there she was. Walking down the dark hall way with a baseball bat in one hand and a bouquet in the other. If only she had the common sense to pick up her cell phone! But dammit she was too far down the road to run back for it now. Actually, this didn't even feel like her house anymore. Was it ever this dark? The hall felt absolutely chilling to her as if the place was some sort of cave she accidentaly wandered into. She blinked as the dim light at the end of the tunnel came into view. When Catherine got closer to it a thought came over her. This... wasn't her house, was it?

Her breath was caught in her throat. Around her, replacing wallpaper and vases of flowers that used to be there, were stone walls that led to a large dome room. On the ceiling of this dome-like room was a painted glass in cool colors that complimented the night. In the room itself was what appeared to be some sort of green house. Millions of flowers and plants made the room like a jungle, and at the center of this room was a gorgeous marble fountain covered in burning candles spewing waterfalls of clear liquid. Any other person would have screamed for help by then. Yet somehow Cathrine was drawn to it by a force unlike her own. Like someone was stringing her along. Her eyes examined the amazing plant life as she passed by them. Each flower was unfamiliar to her as if they had came from a totally different planet. Catherine cautiously walked farther into the room until she stood before the highly decorated marble fountain. Peering into the fountain she stared into her unwavering reflection in the fountain's pool and wondered to herself many things. Where was she? What was this place? And why did it defy all the laws of physics?

"Like a dream, isn't it?" Someone whispered in her ear.

Catherine's scream broke all throughout the room. "Who are you?!" She screeched. In a state of panic she closed her eyes and swung around at the direction of the disembodied voice. Somewhere in the distance the iron baseball bat clanked on the hard floor and reminded her that she had foolishly released it. Catherine was almost too terrified to open her eyes at first, but once she did she noticed that she wasn't anywhere near a magic fountain. Or a green house. Or inside stone walls. She was at home, in her living room. And she just smashed her mom's glass table. 

Because of this fretful night Catherine could not sleep. How could she after such a heart attack? Somehow it couldn't register in her mind that it was all some half-asleep dellusion or a dream all together. For one thing, when she got out of her room that morning, the bat and shattered table were still there ready to be cleaned up. For another, the whole experience was just too real for her. The hall really did reflect the sounds of her slippers slapping stone floors instead of wood. She could feel the sprinkle of the fountain's waters. And that voice... well, she could even feel that! This cold breath against her skin.

Catherine shuddered at the thought of the voice. To distract herself, the teen cleaned up the living room and went into the kitchen. And behold! There on the fridge was another note from her parents. How strange, though. She couldn't recall her family ever working early in the morning. "Whatever," she shrugged. She didn't want to rush thinking up an excuse as to why the table was destroyed anyway. What would she even say to her mother? She tripped? If she mentioned the other world she went to Catherine was sure she'd be spending her birthday in the asylum. After grabbing a doughnut from the fridge, the teen checked the clock and groaned. "Three minutes to run like hell to school!" She swung on her backpack, crammed the doughnut in her mouth and, indeed, ran like hell to the bus stop.

Hands in her pockets, she soon lost the energy to run down the sidewalk in a mad dash. The lack of sleep certainly wasn't about to aid her to her destination. But at least she got breakfast swallowed. "Where is everyone today?" Catherine began to wonder. Looking around her street made her feel as if the city was evacuated. Where a large group of people and cars used to be was suddenly nothing but empty spaces. And though it certainly would have been a lot worse had it been at night it was still fairly frightening. But she continued walking. Hoping that on the way to the bus stop there would at least be some people around.

And maybe her nerves were still rattled from last night, but was she hearing footsteps behind her? She supposed it was a good thing. That'd mean the streets weren't deserted after all. At the same time Catherine just had to stop walking all together and hold her breath in. The presence of this mystery person felt so heavy. Like something horrible was about to happen. She knew it was just a paranoid notion coming over her. Still, she turned around and checked. And at that moment she was reliving last night's episode. This time it was no green house she was looking at but a forest made of glass.

Catherine stared at the gleaming shards of giant glass pieces trying to decide on whether she was crazy or not. Slowly, her head turned forward and found that the same image was all around her. "This is not happening. This is not happening." She chanted, her hands covering her eyes. Why were these visions coming to haunt her? She had no mental diseases that she knew of. She knew she wasn't suffering from brain cancer or anything. It couldn't all be based off sleep.

The poor girl yelped and jumped back a bit at the feel of a silky something against her hand. At first she held up her fists (as if that would save her) only to let them fall to her side and stare mouth agape at a tall young man smiling down at her with the same mysterious blue rose bouquet from last night in his hand.

He must have been in his early twenties, yet he dressed as if he belonged in the Victorian Era. The man was handsome and lean, but all of him seemed so washed out; colorless. His vest, belt, long boots, pants, shirt, jacket, cape were all white and seemed like the only colors he wore besides them were the azure rose buttons he had on the jacket and vest. The man's hair was white as well and fell neatly to his mid-back, tied in a loose pony tail by a blue ribbon. His skin startled Catherine for it made him look positively dead. A white that mimicked fresh snow and everywhere that should have been pink- nails, lips, cheeks- held a gray hue instead. His eyes were surrounded by a smokey rich dark gray. Catherine knew kids at school who wore eyeshadow like that, but you could tell this certainly wasn't make up. But all these dead colors brought out the thing that glued Catherine's own eyes to him. The eyes he had were so amazing. Pitch black, thick, long lashes. And this incredible color blue that didn't seem natural at all. It was too bright, and rich a color. It almost hypnotized the girl with their haunting glow. 

Dear God, was this a vampire?!

Catherine stood stiffly as the vampiric man bowed to her, all smiles, and stood up straight. "Claire..." he said as he came closer and offered the roses. The teen stared at the bouquet, took it, and looked up at him in a daze. "Claire?" The man smiled wider and took her hand without a warning. Catherine stood rigidly as he softly kissed her small hand. He looked up with a frown. "Why, Claire you act as if you don't remember me."

"I-I think you got the wrong person." Catherine gulped. She saw that he was staring at her locket now. Was this locket a passed down hare loom from somewhere? "I-I'm not Claire."  
"Of course you are! Poor thing," The tall man straightened up and sighed pitifully down at her. This made Catherine just a touch annoyed. She didn't like pity. "you're father said you were ill for days. You don't even remember your own name. Do you remember mine?"

Now Catherine frowned. He wasn't about to listen to her, was he? Hugging the roses close to her chest, she closed her eyes and tried to play along with her given role. It wouldn't surprise her if this poor man was disturbed. After all, look at the way he looked and dressed! Or, considering her surroundings, maybe she was the one disturbed. "Um, no, I don't remember your name. Sorry," she opened her eyes again and pouted up at his disappointed face. Gradually, the man's smile came back gentler then before and he bowed again for her. "Amon, Miss Claire."

"Amon? Um, can you tell me where we are?"  
He chuckled. "The Magic Forest of course. You said you always wanted to see it. You always did love fairy tales."  
"How did you know I loved fairy tales?" She blinked. Oh, that's right. Part of her imagination. But, what did he mean that she had always wanted to visit this "magical forest"? Had it come from some book?

Amon provided no answer. Just took her hand and cheerfully dragged her into the forest of glass. "Come along, Miss Claire." He called.  
Catherine stumbled after him. "Slow down! You're going to make me trip on the glass!" She tried to yell, but Amon did not care and went on walking. He let her trip along until she caught up, dropping the roses somewhere in the process.

"That dress looks lovely on you, Miss Claire."

At first she didn't understand what he meant. She came out of the house in jeans and a sweater. It didn't take any time at all before she caught sight of the dress though. It was as plain as Amon's outfit in color as it was all white. But in design! Catherine had to stop walking and admire it for a moment. A corset and flowy dress with strings of lace and pearls all around. It complimented the locket so nicely. It almost didn't click in her mind right away that she was instantly changed in what must have been "Claire's" old outfit. Amon had stopped with her as well to watch and admire her pleased and surprised smile. "It must have been a long time since you got to wear that dress again." He explained.

"It's really beautiful." She looked up at the man. And as if he knew what she was about to ask he suddenly turned around and dragged her with him again. "We're going to the castle, Miss Claire."

On the way there Catherine learned not to ask any more questions. It seemed that everything she wondered got more confusing as the day went on. But at least the sight was beautiful. The glass, though everywhere, did not cut them while they walked. The sky, she discovered, had a very glossy look to it and was a lilac hue instead of the usual blue. The clouds were still white. In the forest there were no animals that she could see. Instead she saw a plentiful amount of lime green butterflies fluttering around the glass flowers. It should have been horrible to see the butterflies without actual flowers to feed them but they didn't mind. They seemed to do just fine with the fake florage.

Amon was also rather interesting. Everything he said literally came to life in his hands. The world was tied around his finger and Catherine was certain that he was the puppet master behind this world. Maybe she wasn't crazy after all. But it wasn't all that struck her as interesting. As they talked she came to learn a few things from whatever place this man had come from. Or, she should say, he and Claire were from.

Sometime in the old era Amon was the third son of a wealthy family. This family were friends with an equally wealthy family (Claire's family) and it seemed that Claire and Amon were always around each other and grew up together from a young age. More was discovered when the two reached the castle Amon mentioned.

Catherine was stunned to find that the castle was a building made of glass that sat at the center of a lake surrounded by blue roses. But though the castle was made of glass, she found that you could not see what was in it, but only what was out it. "This castle looks like it's made of mirrors." She thought out loud only to hear Amon laugh beside her. "Why, yes it is. I thought you liked this one?"

Amon was a gifted painter. He did many things, from portraits to still-life. But for Claire he was in charge of making her imaginary worlds come true. The glass forests, the green house, and this castle were some of the works she asked him to paint. And he put his very soul into each of them. "I always want to please you. Your imagination is just amazing to me."

"But these aren't paintings. This is an actual castle!" Catherine gasped. Her eyes followed the the rose petals that seemed to fall gracefully from the skies like rain. The two walked through the feilds of flowers until they reached the lake's shores. Amon stepped on the water first, showing it was solid, and waited patiently for Catherine. Hesitantly, the girl followed him.  
"Is that bad?" Amon asked.  
Catherine stopped at the door of the castle. Seeing all these things come alive, she feared there may be some dragon running around. Made of glass, probably. "Why do I like glass so much?"  
That got a puzzled look from Amon. "I like to believe it is because your father designed so many beautiful glass pieces."

Silently, they stepped through the large marble doors only to get another gasp from Catherine. Every step they took brought on a new fabulous place to see! Catherine turned behind her briefly to watch Amon close the doors behind them and let them melt away into the walls, then rushed to the middle of the room, spinning and giggling in delight. "Wow!" She breathed.

This room was vast. Endless on all sides. The walls were blindingly white with marble columns everywhere giving the place almost an Egyptian feel. There were brass lanterns hanging up side down from the ceilings, some hanging from beaded string as well, and their lights danced on the shallow water that covered the floors. All entwined on the columns, walls, and ceiling were vines and flowers that produced a sweet perfume within the room. Catherine couldn't help but let a childish glee get the best of her.

Amon snuck up and captured her around the waist from behind. He smiled at the breathless girl, still laughing in his arms. He held her until her dizzy feet got their grip again on the watery surface and Catherine looked up at him with rosy cheeks. "You haven't aged a day, have you?" He asked, softly. Somehow, the way he said it, made Catherine blush and stop laughing. The look in his eyes... he was so in love with this Claire from the past. It almost made her jealous. It was a strange feeling, though. Her mind told her this meeting should have only been a day in reality. But it felt like they were spending maybe months together talking and exploring the forest. Catherine was suddenly swung around to face the man.

With a sly grin, he placed a hand on her hip, laced their fingers with his other hand, and mercilessly swung her into a waltz. He laughed when the surprised girl stumbled all over the place and held on with a death grip to his shirt with her only free hand. "What happened to your feet? You used to be a beautiful dancer!" he teased. Catherine humphed and pulled herself together when Amon stopped them. "I don't even know how to waltz." She admitted with a frustrated pout, which only made the older man laugh a little more. "I'll teach you, then."

They danced all night. Every spin stripping the years from Catherine and making it fly past her. She didn't mind at all. She would have happily danced her life away like this; laughing and enjoying herself with Amon. Whom, as it turned out, was a very good dance instructor. The music leaking from the walls only encouraged them to keep going, locked in embrace and watching the other's eyes and how they gleamed in the latern's light. It was a romantic enviroment. And it was after remembering Amon asking about her fiancee not to long ago that Catherine put two and two together. Amon was trying to make his love fall in love with him back, and he was seducing the wrong person.

"Is something wrong?" Amon asked in a whisper. Their dance was becoming slower as both partners gradually lost the light-heartedness that once filled the room. Once then stopped, Amon released their joined hands and gently captured the young girl's chin, making her look up at him with her teary eyes. "Claire? What happened?" 

"Amon... who do you love?" Catherine asked, voice weak. She knew the answer. And she knew he didn't understand before, but she believed now she knew what made him confuse her for Claire.

She watched his eyes widen in shock. Then they softened and became deep and loving like before. He released her chin, stumbling for words in his head. Looking into her sad eyes, Amon tried to confess. "Claire, I... I..." the defeated man sighed and pulled the young girl into his arms. As she was held close to him, catching the smell of roses off his body, she heard the dreaded words whispered to her so passionately. "I love you, Claire."

"No you don't..." Her voice barely came out past her lips. Heart broken, she pushed off of him and stepped a bit away. The man looked so incredibly hurt just then.

"Claire-"  
"I'm not Claire!" Catherine shouted. She hastily tore at the latch of the necklace, tears threatening to spill. She wasn't going to let Amon be disillusioned any longer. "You gave Claire this necklace years ago when she was sick. You told me that, right?!"

Amon stood still just watching her in confusion.

Catherine continued. "You think I'm her because of it. I'm not, look!" The girl sucked in a breath and unhooked the chains, throwing the locket to the floor. And in a moment everything was lost. The years and days were all returned to that one moment in the living room. The same day Catherine first experienced the illusions Amon crafted. It was all here. "See...?" She sighed, frowning at him. 

Amon couldn't bring himself to believe it. So shocked was he the man's beautiful scenery were gone. Everything was just... gone. "Who are you?" His voice was barely audible at first. Soon, the furious man broke into yells repeating the question in mad chants. Catherine stood there, taking it the best as she could. She could understand why he was mad. Catherine was a smart girl and the stories Amon told of "their" lives gave her plenty of hints. He was in love with Claire long ago, but she was engaged to someone else. When she was ill he tried to make her feel better with stories, paintings and, finally, the beautiful locket. Catherine supposed she must have died from the illness. As for Amon... who knows how he ended up here...

"Amon, please, I tried to tell you I wasn't her!"  
"You lied to me!" He continued yelling, his hands holding the side of his head as if temptation was making him want to smash something. "Where is she, then? Tell me where she is!"  
"I-I don't kno-"  
"Liar!" He yelled once more. The heavy force of anger radiating from him easily filled the tiny space and made the frightened teen shudder at it's force.

"I only wanted to... to..." Catherine couldn't summon the words. Only stare at him as tears finally shed. Was this really much better then letting him love a false girl? "Amon..."

The man gave one last glare before sharply turning his back to her. Quickly, his body dissolved into the darkness of the room, leaving Catherine alone to face the decision she had made.

"Cathy? What on Earth happened in here?!" She heard her mother cry from the door, flicking on the light to find her table obliverated and her daughter standing in the middle of the room with her back turned, shivering. The next voice to come from the door was her father's who asked gently, "Are you alright?"

The last thing she wanted right now after such a sickening depart from the man she was falling in love with were the voices of her parents asking stupid things at the worst time. Horrible sobs broke through before her father could even tap her shoulder and both parents hurried to her when she fell to her knees, hiding her face in her hands. "Cathy! Cathy, Baby, what just happened?" Her mother kneeled down beside her and tried to get her to stand. The father just stood helplessly searching for a blood trail. There had to be a reason why the girl was crying. "Cathy?"

Furious, saddened, sick, and confused, Catherine fought her mother's hand off of her arm and pulled herself to her feet only to run out the open door. She could hear her mother calling for her and the heavy breathing of her father chasing her out of the house, also calling her name. But Catherine just wanted to run away. Try to find a safe spot to be alone and think of everything that had happened. What happened, why it happened. How could she fix everything? Eyes blurred, Catherine only heard the screech of the car tires and a howling wail from the parents that screamed out her name into the night...

It was a clear sunny day. A nice spring day with all the fresh spring scent of blooming flowers and growing grass. The sky was blue and clear, leaving room for the sun's rays to bathe the hilly graveyard in warm light. A dark haired, dark eyed young girl sat on top of a new grave, her eyes watching her bare feet in the grass. Behind her she heard the usual crunching of grass below someone's feet and looked over her shoulder to see who it might be. She was surprised to find a tall man in washed out colors holding out a bouquet of fresh blue roses. 

"Hello, I couldn't help but notice you were sitting here all alone." He smiled.

The girl smiled back and turned around to face him, hopping off the tomb stone and accepting the roses.

With a bow, the man then asked, "Miss, what is your name?"  
"Catherine," The young teen laughed. She watched the other man kneel and kiss the top of her hand sweetly. "Such a pretty name. My name is Amon." The man then stood and gave her one of his sly smiles. "My dear, would you like to take a walk with me tonight?" Catherine looked up at the sky, watching it slowly dissolve into night, and smiled. Nodding, she said, "Why yes, I'd love to."

Pleased, Amon offered her his arm. The blushing girl laughed and hooked their arms together, leaning against him, and began their walk towards a fresh new start.


End file.
